Macbeth's Self Destruction

Ambition is often the driving force in people’s life. People often pushed by ambition to acquire the things they desire. It’s a motivational force. Sometimes ambition seems to be a necessary character for a leader because these strong eagers of willing to win the battles usually make him stronger. However, ambition is a two-edged human quality that it’s a good thing if we can control it but it can also make people do bad things. Eventually, if ambition is driving over people, it would be the situation of Macbeth. In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth is the protagonist who is also a great general that brings countless victories to Scotland. However, when he hears the prophecies from the witch sisters, his ambition drives him crazy and makes him kill King Duncan in order to acquire the throne he desires. Therefore, the ambition is the tragic flaw that leads downfall of Macbeth.

After the scene that Macbeth hears the witch sister’s prophecies, Macbeth’s ambition becomes the only thing that he has in his mind. However, ambition drives him to kill other people in order to stay in power or even kill King Duncan to become the king of Scotland. Ambition certainly is the key factor pushed Macbeth to murder “What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won” (1.2.67). Referring to Macbeth has earned to be Thane of Cawdor and others would think that he’s satisfied, but this is not the case. In his mind, the desire to be above the others becomes greater and greater. Once he steps in, he cannot go back “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself. And falls on th’other…” (1.7.25). Macbeth has realized that his ambition becomes too great and leads to make him doing something bad, murder. However, he cannot stop his ambition to burgeon. Therefore ambition drives him too far, and ended up with getting himself killed, love ones and many more.

“All of Shakespeare's great tragic figures are isolated in a universe essentially of their own...

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

...Self-Destruction.
As the years pass by, human being started to behave sometimes against the laws of nature. People started to act in a self-destructive way, such as an abuse relationship, suicide and social suicide. “In human context, self-destructive behavior is a widely used phrase that conceptualizes certain kinds of destructive acts as belonging to the self. It also has the property that it characterizes certain kinds of self-inflicted acts as destructive. The term comes from objective psychology, wherein all apparent self-inflicted harm or abuse toward oneself is treated as a collection of actions, and therefore as a pattern of behavior.” “Acts of "self-destruction" may be merely metaphorical ("social suicide") or literal (suicide). Generally speaking, self-destructive actions may be deliberate, born of impulse, or developed as a habit. The term however tends to be applied toward self-destructions that are potentially habit-forming or addicting, and are thus potentially fatal. “(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-destructive_behaviour).
In William Faulkner’s short story, “A Rose for Emily”, Faulkner describe two types of self –destruction actions, first is the abusive relationship that the character Emily has with her father and also with the man she...

...popular illicit psychoactive drug amongst millions of people worldwide (Inaba & Cohen, 2011). Today marijuana is a popular drug amongst teens and remains the most commonly abused drug by a wide margin (New Port Academy, 2013). The 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that the use of marijuana among 12 to 17 year olds increased 9 percent from 2008 to 2009, (ONDCP, 2013). According to New Port Academy (ONDCP, 2013), since the legalization of marijuana in 2007, more than 10.8 percent of all 10th graders and 32.4 percent of 12th graders abused marijuana at least once in the last year. “Marijuana effects a juvenile brain more severely than an adult brain,” (Inaba & Cohen, 2011).
Alcohol and drug addiction contributes to the destruction of families and communities. According to Schafer (2011), research has identified a strong connection between disrupted family relationships and other drug addictions. Substance abuse results in an enormous cost to the abuser and the family. After they can no longer afford it themselves, they begin reaching out to family, friends, and even co-workers. It can turn into debts owed and can then lead to breaking relationships and forming negative relationships. Family members of addicts also see phases in “their journey with the addict,” (Stevens and Smith, 2009). Addiction, according to Stevens and Smith (2009), is seen as a family illness in that the addition directly affects those who are in a direct and close...

...﻿The act of being self-destructive does not just come to be. It occurs slowly and takes hold in individuals to varying degrees, contingent upon how ‘cold’ they are, and by their level of self-absorption and conceited desires. A combination of these characteristics can be discerned in each of the protagonists from the literary forms I studied. Each character is self-destructive, but the consequences of their actions and the number of people they hurt tends to magnify depending on how many of these characteristics they appear to demonstrate. What unites these characters is their ultimate self-destruction, resulting in the death of three out of four characters studied here. These four characters are Macbeth, from the play ‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare; Eddie, from the play ‘A view from the Bridge’ by Arthur Miller’; Kenny, in the short-story ‘Hunters in the Snow’ by Tobias Wolff; and, Ben Sanderson in the film ‘Leaving Las Vegas’ directed by Mike Figgis.
Macbeth and Kenny are characters who share a connection of becoming increasingly cold which leads them towards self-destruction. They lack empathy and compassion. Cold characters come across as angry, hostile and oftentimes critical towards others. Macbeth becomes increasingly cold throughout the play as his conscience begins to dissipate. To begin with he has remorse and feels a degree of guilt in killing the King of...

...|
Psychedelic Rock and SelfDestruction |
Conceptual Framework |
|
Mallory Jacob Pacheco |
3YR – Aristotle ~ Future Generation Phil. Int’l School |
|
ABSTRACT
This paper describes the conceptual framework that underlies my research paper ‘Psychedelic Rock and Self-Destruction’, whose mission is to measure the psychosocial and behavioral impact of Psychedelic Rock among people. It also aims to measure what Psychedelic Rock does to the human psyche, and why it causes self-destruction to most people who listen to it and to the people who made or played it, this includes drinking alcohol, taking drugs, smoking, sex, hallucination, high brain activity, being high, and etc., which causes an early death and self-destruction.
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom. It often used new recording techniques and effects and drew on non-Western sources such the ragas and drones of Indian music. Psychedelic rock bridged the transition from early blues- and folk music-based rock to progressive rock, glam rock, hard rock and as a result influenced the development of sub-genres such as heavy metal. Since the...

...﻿The Modern SelfDestruction : A Normative Critique.
In human context, self-destructive behaviour is a widely used phrase that conceptualises certain kinds of destructive acts as belonging to the self. It also has the property that it characterises certain kinds of self-inflicted acts as destructive. The term comes from objective psychology, wherein all apparent self-inflicted harm or abuse toward oneself is treated as a collection of actions, and therefore as a pattern of behaviour.
Acts of "self-destruction" may be merely metaphorical or literal . Generally speaking, self-destructive actions may be deliberate, born of impulse, or developed as a habit. The term however tends to be applied toward self-destructions that are potentially habit-forming or addictive, and are thus potentially fatal.
Suicide
Self-harm
Eating disorders
Substance abuse
Forms
Self-destructive behaviour is often considered to be synonymous with self-harm, but this is not accurate. Self-harm is an extreme form of self-destructive behaviour, but it may appear in many other guises.
Self-destructive behaviour may be used as a coping mechanism, when things get 'too much'. For example, faced with a pressing scholastic assessment, someone may choose to sabotage...

...largest catalyst of Othello's isolation, Iago, the play's most paradoxical character, drives Othello to question everything he knows. Iago's weapon is his ability to drive the other characters into a personal conflict, which leads the characters to have both an outer and inner life. Even though Iago and Othello's duality is more clearly shown, most of the characters in the play display a personal inner conflict. Being a tragic hero, Othello falls victim to the loneliness and isolation that Iago drives him to. Almost all of the play's major character's become torn between themselves, and even Iago falls prey to his own obsession with revenge. The isolation also serves as a foreshadowing of the characters impending doom.
Iago's outer and inner self is what brings the other characters to isolation and duality. It has been said that Iago is the most honest character in the play. This may most certainly be true. His outward persona certainly suggests a contradiction that the audience is aware of. Every character in the play feels as though Iago is an honest man. It is this public perception that allows him to do what he does. His own honesty is confirmed by Othello on multiple occasions. For example, "A man he is of honesty and trust." He also says, "My life upon her faith! Honest Iago." An important word to notice is the faith that Othello uses there. The reader will come to see that faith is later shown to be the tragic flaw of Othello. What makes Iago so...

...24 September 2013
Self-Destruction
Firearms are the most common method of death by suicide, which accounts for more than 50% of all reports. In 2002, the total documented amount of suicides by firearms in the United States alone was 16,869. The suicide rate is about four times higher for men than it is for women. There have been a total of 24,672 suicidal deaths by males in 2002, which is about 67.6 suicides per day. Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death for men, the second leading cause of death among college students, and the third leading cause of death for young people aged 15-24 years old (first being accidents and second being homicide). On average during the year 2002, a young person, aged 15-24, commits suicide every 2 hours and 12 minutes (Caruso).
My uncle is one of them.
Brian Gabriel Sheller was born on Christmas Eve in the year 1977 to mother AnnMarie Sheller and father David Sheller. Brian grew up with three older siblings: Erika, Kristin, and David. Much like his other siblings, Brian was very intelligent, outgoing, athletic, and charismatic. There was just one thing that set him apart from the rest of his siblings. Brian was born with cerebral palsy. Cerebral Palsy is a condition marked by impaired muscular coordination (spastic paralysis) and/or other disabilities, typically caused by damage to the brain before or at birth (Google). At the time he was born, they didn’t know enough and they weren’t actually aware...

...The Path to SelfDestruction
In the short story “Hunters in the Snow” Tobias Wolff uses symbols to convey that some people’s selfishness can lead to their own selfdestruction.
The first example of symbolism that Tobias Wolff gives us is the setting of the story. Implied by the stories title the setting is a snowy forest. The snow, being so cold, is symbolic of the cold relationship that the three hunters; Tub, Frank and Kenny all share with each other. Frank and Tub, once used to be very close, but Frank now has a more close relationship with Kenny but even that friendship is not without its taunting and antagonizing. This is made clear when after Frank tells Kenny that he talks to much, Kenny Says “I won't say a word. Like I won't say anything about a certain babysitter.” (Wolff 140) Kenny says this because, deep down he really does not care about Frank or his affair with the babysitter that he has confided in him with because Kenny is a cold hearted person who is a glutton for power and dominance regardless of how much, how little or how important it really is. Another example of the cold relationship these men have is Tub being the subject of much of Kenny’s ridicule. This is illustrated when Kenny says to Tub “All I can say is, it's the first diet I ever heard of where you gained weight from it.” (141) Throughout the course of the story Kenny makes numerous remarks about Tub’s weight. Kenny does this because...